VIRGINIA -- The Minnesota West Bluejays football team came away with another win Saturday after shutting out the Mesabi Norsemen in Virginia 10-0. The win keeps the Bluejays perfect on the season at 3-0.
"The guys are working hard to make the plays they need to," Minn. West coach Jeff Linder said. "They are playing together as a team, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us."
The Bluejays scored all 10 of their points in the second quarter. The first score came on the opening play of the quarter when QB Logan Massop (7-for-15 for 118 yards) threw a 53-yard TD to Zelius Morrow (4 rec. for 96 yards) (PAT good).
The second score came on a 40-yard field goal by Tyler Smith with 9:28 remaining in the half.
However, the biggest factor in the Bluejays win was the play of their defense which picked up seven sacks and four fumble recoveries along with one interception.
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"I think we played aggressive," Linder said. "We made things happen and didn't allow them to get into a groove."
Saying the MW defense played aggressively might be an understatement. Not only did the Bluejays cause multiple turnovers, but they also held the Norsemen to negative 40 yards of total offense.
"The team is playing well together," Linder said. "The defense is stepping up when the offense is struggling, but the offense has also stepped up when the defense has struggled, too."
Despite being perfect on the season, Linder knows the season is still young and that his team can still make improvements.
"As a coach you always have to think that you can improve," Linder said. "We can continue to get better in what we do as a team. Both the offense and defense has made plays when we've needed them to, but there is still a long way to go before we can be a great team."
Running back Devin Harris had 25 carries for 50 yards while linebacker Dylan Hart came up with eight tackles, a fumble recovery and three sacks.
"The guys know they can still improve," Linder said. "If we can improve by one-percent every week I will be happy."
MW had 193 yards of total offense, but controlled the ball for just half the time that Mesabi did throughout the game.
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The Bluejays will host the Northland Pioneers at noon Saturday at Trojan Field in Worthington.
Bluejays 0 10 0 0 -- 10
Norsemen 0 0 0 0 -- 0
